Pala-isip

"Come on down", that's one of the most familiar phrase on TV. Bob Barker, host of TV's "The Price is Right" is retiring after 50 years in television. The TV legend will be 83 years old on December 12 has decided that he will be retiring on June 2007. That will be his 50 year on television and 35 years as host of "The Price is Right". He said that he decided to retire while he's still young. I used to watch this show when I was younger and it's my grandmother's favorite show. It was a dream of her to watch this show live and hope to become a contestant there. She got her dream when my uncle brought her to the show. Although she wasn't called as a contestant, she thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It's nice to see someone who has such longevity, kind of like George Burns. In these times of 15 minutes of fame era, you hardly see anyone last so long. Thanks of the wonderful time Bob, cheers!

“When I born, I Black, When I grow up, I Black, When I go in Sun, I Black, When I scared, I Black, When I sick, I Black, And when I die, I still black.. And you White fella, When you born, you Pink, When you grow up, you White, When you go in Sun, you Red, When you cold, you Blue, When you scared, you Yellow, When you sick, you Green, And when you die, you Gray.. And you calling me Colored?!”

Last week, my son wanted to buy the Star Wars Transformer he's been eyeing for the last month. My wife finally relented and they went to Toys 'R Us. My wife called me up and told my son to talk to me to see if I'll allow him to buy it. I told him that he can buy it as long as he pays for it. Being 4 years old, he doesn't really understand the concept of money and exchange yet. But I thought this might be a perfect way to teach him the value of money. So my wife paid for it and I told him that I will take the money he spent for the toy from his piggy bank. So last night, I sat him down and we counted out the money he spent. At first I took out the the Dollar coins and quarters, but when I counted out $22 worth, it barely reduced the content of his piggy bank. Since he's only beginning to learn how to add, it's a little difficult to get him to understand if I took the actual amount. So I decided to count out the pennies and nickels instead, now we're talking!...

We've all heard the bruhaha regarding Jim Paredes migrating to Australia , with people saying he has abandoned the Philippines (although Jim Paredes says he's only taking a break from it). Who's this artist? None other than Dingdong Avanzado and wife Jessa Zaragosa . They migrated early this year to the U.S. living in Vallejo, California. With them is their 3 year old daughter Jayda. When asked why they migrated, they said that they were scared as their comfort zone is in the Philippines, but they're doing it for their daughter so that she'll have other options when it's time for her to pursue her dreams. Hmm...isn't that practically the answer of everyone who migrated out of the country who have families? That's the answer my Dad gave me when we asked why we're migrating. That's the same answer given by my friends and their parents. Is it really that hopeless in the Philippines? Do people really not see a good future for their children if they s...

In any culture, when people feel that everything seems to be hopeless, when nothing seems to be going right, there's only one thing to do. Laugh at it all! Even in conservative Iraq, with curfews and censorship. People turn into humour to laugh their problems away. Here's a report from the NY Times about a show in Iraq satirizing everything that's happening. From the American occupation to the Ministry of Water and Sewage planning to change its name to the Ministry of Sewage because it has given up on the water part. The show is the Iraqi version of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart". I guess it's not only Filipinos who laugh at everything. Here's the report from the NY Times .

We all know the Philippine government is corrupt. But I was curious as to how corrupt it really is. Here are a couple of cases I found so far from the Office of the Ombudsman and other sources. I'll try to arrange them from the most recent going back to after Marcos was ousted. 2006 - P5 Billion - Dep-Ed Feeding Program (still under investigation as of this writing) 2004 - P1.3 Billion - Poll Automation Deal 2004 - P38 Billion (US$683 Million) - Recovered Marcos Wealth 2004 - P303 Million - Major General Carlos F. Garcia 2003 - P1.1 Billion - Diosdado Macapagal Blvd 2.3Km of road 2003 - P16 Billion - RSBS (Retirement and Separation Benefits System) 2001 - P130 Million - DPWH Vehicle Repair Scam 1998(?) - P5.3 Billion - Tax Credit Scam 1998 - P167 Billion (US$4 Billion $1=P41.97) - IPP Contracts 1995 - P3 Billion - PEA (Public Estates Authority) - Amari Scam 1991 - P10 Billion - Fort Bonifacio Land Scam Total money lost or unaccounted for P247.133 Billion. P247.133 Billion / 89,...

Boy, the fight between Malacanang and Mayor Binay is looking more and more like a Texas Showdown. I can just imagine it, Binay as the town's sheriff and GMA coming into town with a bunch of goons. As much as I would like to say that it's a case of the big guy trampling on the little guy, but I can't really determine which one of them is the little guy. :) But seriously, what is going on? Suspending 18 city officials in 1 day? Who do they expect to run the city? The opponents of mayor Binay like Brilliante? Or Lito Lapid? They were never elected for the post! Then again, I guess GMA thought that since she was never elected for the post that she can just put anyone on any post. Why can't there ever be anything good on the news like someone or the government doing some good for the country? Why is it always these bickering and political fights? Aren't the Filipino tired of these? Why don't these politicians do something else for a change.....like their jobs! By the...

I went to Goldilocks with my wife today to try out the food. I've been in Vancouver for over 8 years now but have never been to Goldilocks here. It's located at Broadway and Fir. Anyway, we just came from a school activity and my wife suggested we go to Goldilocks. I didn't really want to go but since this is one of the few times I was with my wife during the morning, I said ok. One of the reason I didn't want to go was that I had to pay parking just to eat there. It cost CAD$2.00 for one hour of street parking. But that is not the reason I'm writing. As we ordered our meal, I was sitting at a table about 20 feet away from the counter while my wife was ordering our food. As this is our first time there, we really don't know what to order. The last time I went to Goldilocks was in the Philippines over 10 years ago. While my wife was trying to decide what to eat, she asked the lady at taking her order "Anong masarap na pancit". Do you know what the...

I used to play a lot of video games when I was younger. I still like to play them, but finding the time to spend mindless hours in front of a video game is pretty hard when you have kids. Sure, we have some of the new game consoles like Xbox and PS2. But nothing beats those old games I used to play in the 80's. I did have an Atari once as well as an Intellivision. I don't know many people who have Intellivision, but I miss that more than the Atari. It has better graphics, better games and the joystick didn't keep breaking. Well, it had a numpad and a circular controller kind of like the iPod. But guess what, the games are now online! A website called Intellivision Lives has a collection of Intellivision games available for the Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube. Games are also available for Windows and Macs. They also have a couple of games available for download for the PC and Mac for free . Check out the website at http://www.webcom.com/inty/home.shtml

Here's an interesting article on CNNmoney.com on how the rich and powerful teach their children about money and not to grow up with the entitlement mentality. A couple of examples like part of their allowance is expected to be given to charity and to savings. Another where they are given a budget for shopping and a limit is set, if that limit is used up, tough luck. To read more, visit this site .

As yet again, GMA changes her mind on her previous order for a retake of the nursing board exam. Why am I not surprised? For someone who changed her mind after saying that she won't run a second term but did. Who also said that she will step down after her term ends but is gunning for a change in the system into a parliamentary one. Why would her changing her mind on the retake be any different? As they say, if you don't stand for anything, you'll fall for everything. The story of the life of this person isn't it? She doesn't stand for anything as long as some people make enough noise about it. The only thing she stood for is in clinging into her seat as President (kuno). Hay...Philippines my Philippines....

CREATION.EXE In the beginning there was the computer. And God said c:\>Let there be light! Enter user id. c:\>God Enter password. c:\>Omniscient Password incorrect. Try again. c:\>Omnipotent Password incorrect. Try again. c:\>Technocrat And God logged on at 12:01:00 AM, Sunday, March 1. c:\>Let there be light! Unrecognizable command. Try again. c:\>Create light Done c:\>Run heaven and earth And God created Day and Night. And God saw there were 0 errors. And God logged off at 12:02:00 AM, Sunday, March 1. And God logged on at 12:01:00 AM, Monday, March 2. c:\>Let there be firmament in the midst of water and light Unrecognizable command. Try again. c:\>Create firmament Done. c:\>Run firmament And God divided the waters. And God saw there were 0 errors. And God logged off at 12:02:00 AM, Monday, March 2. And God logged on at 12:01:00 AM, Tuesday, March 3. c:\>Let the waters under heaven be gathered t...

I just found a website which contains a database of superhero based movies and TV series. It contains movies from all over the world including the Philippines. Remember " Alyas Batman en Robin " with Joey De Leon and Keempee De Leon? How about Rene Requestas as "Joker" and Panchito as "Chu-Pa-enguin"? There's even a movie called " The Indian Superman ". The website is categorized into movies based on Marvel, DC, Independent as well as original movie or TV superheroes. There's even movies based on international superheroes like UFO Grendizer , Gundam Saviour and there's even a movie about Astro boy ! Take note, these are real people and not cartoons! Of course, TV series superheroes from the Philippines are listed as well like Mulawin , Lastikman and Darna . It's a great site with photos and screenshots of the show. Check out the website at Superheroes Lives .